The roof is no longer falling

Story Time

Once upon a time I bought a ring made of coconut.  That isn't super exceptional, they're really popular here, but it sets the stage for one of the greatest love stories of my relatively short life.  One day, while wearing this ring as I always do, a slightly tipsy older man on the bus approached me.  He said, "Moça, I have the same ring as you!"  I confirmed that his observation was correct, to which he proudly announced,  "I´m your husband, and you didn't even know it!".  So turns out I´m married to this random guy we see in the streets every now and then.  Every time he sees me, he makes a peace sign and shouts, "Hello, amor!".  It´s a good relationship, but we'll have to work on his drinking problem.

Splits

We had our split this week, and we hosted this time, which was pretty fun.  We always seem to have more spiritual and effective days when we have splits, though I´m not sure why.  Sister Mareski was paired with our ST, Sister White, who is also from Utah.  When we reunited again, Sister Mareski basically told me that both of our Portuguese is a little bad, but that she missed my Portuguese the whole day, which made me laugh.

Another great thing about this split is that when we went to Campinas to pick them up, we were able to pass by the mission office.  We both had packages and letters waiting for us, which was awesome.  Sister Mareski almost had a breakdown when she saw the size of the box her mom sent her.  She had asked her mom to send her a drawstring backpack she'd left at home, and her mom sent her a 11 kg box full of snack food.  Mrs. Mareski also included some candy and earrings for me, so that was an unexpected pleasure. 

 
Micah sent me a package this week, and I swear it's like she can read my mind.  I was wanting new pajamas, and feeling trunky for not being home for all the autumn fun, and she sent me a pair of new pajamas and apple cider mix.  Wwweeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrddddddddddd.  She´s awesome, it´s fine. 

15 Cards

I tried the training game that Mom sent me with Sister Mareski, and she is getting more and more frustrated because she refuses to be told the strategy to win.  This is fine with me, as I get to have the satisfaction of winning every single time.  I also taught her how to play Egyptian Rat Race, and in return she taught me to play Truco.  I´ll have to teach her how to play Scum too, though it's more fun with more people.

The Roof is No Longer Falling

Good news, someone came to fix our roof and they fixed it in one day.  I think we're still going to switch houses so that they can fix the mold problem, but it´s more calm now.  I'm not sure if we will move before the transfer next Tuesday, but probably not.

If the Cats Like Us, the Church is True

So, our investigator Axxxxxxxa is making a lot of progress in her reading of the Book of Mormon and testimony of it.  Funnily enough, I think the biggest point in our favor is that her cats like us.  Every time we visit, she just watches with incredulity as her cats come to be given attention by us, because, according to her, they don´t normally let anyone but her close to them.  We're going to go to her house today for the rest of pday so she can teach us how to really make coxinhas.  We tried a couple weeks ago, and they were good, but we're really going to learn today.

 

New President

The presidential election was yesterday and the winner was announced. Last night there were tons of fireworks and people driving through the streets incessantly honking their horns.  We asked a member who had won, and I don't remember his name, but I know it was the one Juli didn't want to win.

Em Fim

So, all in all, everything is going well here.  It´s a continuous cycle of finding new people to teach, visiting the people we have, and trying our best to show how the gospel blesses our lives.  I´m expecting to be transferred to a new area next week, but who knows what will actually happen.  I hope you are all doing well, and know that I love you and am grateful for the support you give me.

 

Fotos

1. Pretty sunset

2.  We found some cool graffiti

3.  I killed my umbrella when I was using it to ward of yet another dog that was trying to bite my foot off